When Willie Nelson covers your song, it becomes his. Sorry, Eddie. Paul Simon already knew.
In Closing: want; poor babies; history lesson; definitions; dumb questions; biometric database; maybe salt isn’t the devil; reasons; files; and just for fun, how many people have your name. There’s another Bridget Magnus in Canada, but I’m apparently unique in the US.
Over a million dollars of tax money later, the Feds found somebody to crack one iPhone. And what did they find? As predicted, nothing of value.
That isn’t stopping the Feds from trying to make you less secure (not that you are terribly secure now). After all, the location of a ticking time bomb might someday be in somebody’s phone! The bill on the table has been called “technically illiterate,” “unworkable,” and “a firing offense.” You might want to take a minute to remind your Senators and Representatives that you vote.
In other news, a meddling judge said that the FBI can’t get around the need for an actual warrant by just hacking suspected perps. Let’s hear it for meddling judges.
Just a reminder, folks: 
In Closing: a mighty suspicious coincidence; power shopping; the piano; and a double dose of Prince.
Or, “Oh Nicky”
This brave dog is Nicky. Nicky was shot and killed in the line of duty here in Las Vegas. This made the national news. So a few days went by, and some people started to wonder how come the criminal hadn’t been charged with capital murder of a police officer (I don’t know if K-9 units count, but I did hear some people ask), or even animal cruelty. It turns out that the shot was fired by a cop: Nicky was killed by “friendly fire.”
Now, when I heard that I was even more sad. But I also remembered this old post from 6 years ago. It took 7 cops 81 shots to kill one bad guy? I really don’t have a problem with cops shooting bad guys now and again, but they should actually hit what they fire at!
Just maybe Vegas cops need to spend some time on the freaking firing range learning to hit their targets.
In Closing: Lawmakers are really trying to make encryption worthless (thus killing the tech industry in America, promoting identity theft and other cybercrimes, and not really doing jack about terrorists); Google doesn’t trust anybody; the sad truth about all those jobs being created; the neighborhood you live in influences how much activity you get; and sugar.
So, now that the FBI has found a gracious way to get themselves out of the Apple Mess, now what?
Why, we blame Brussels on encryption without any evidence that it was used, of course!
Oh yeah, and we can clamp down on prepaid phones too. After all, aren’t those only used by criminals and cheating spouses? Well, and people trying to get out of abusive situations. And whistleblowers. And homeless people trying to establish a phone number where potential employers can reach them without it being obviously a homeless shelter. Heck, the very idea that “they” want to crack down on them makes me want to buy a whole bunch of them.
In Closing: Things that are bad for children; The Emperor; and sunlight is a great disinfectant.
It’s 3.14. Also, 3.1416. Perhaps celebrate with some pie?
In Closing: still fake; still bad for real Americans who like to have jobs; sounds like a wild goose chase to me; not having money is not actually a crime; and just maybe the FBI misjudged this and people have figured out that 24 was a TV show.
Hi folks! Late next week I should have another one of my semester end roundups, but for now, enjoy some freshly dismembered Shorties for Valentines Day.
Speaking of St Valentine: He was beheaded on this day around 270 AD.
Like Sand Though the Hourglass: A picture of sand under a microscope. Pretty cool, huh? Here’s the source.
Hillaryvision: Hillary had a pretty bad week by most measures. Even things that were supposed to help her — Kissinger advised her! Albright not patronized us but matronized us! — weren’t helpful. But at least she realizes that people on Social Security won’t vote for her unless she promises not to slash their benefits.
In Other Research, Water is Wet: “Hospitals with more registered nurses and doctors per bed can reduce patient death by as much as 20 percent….”
News from Harvard: The United States can’t control encryption.
News from Princeton: He who counts the votes controls the election.
Bundy: Would the whole thing in Oregon have gone on as long as it did if the Koch brothers weren’t involved?
On Welfare: Some interesting facts.
And Finally some Good News out of Washington: Budget Surplus!
Any questions?
Serious people are using the events of Paris to whine about how The Authorities don’t have enough authority to suspend your right to have a completely private conversation on your cell phone. Their excuse is that Bad Guys might be having conversations about doing Bad Things — a concept that should stink to high heaven of Pre-Crime. The Authorities want to make it impossible for your phone to be completely secure, in the name of catching Bad Guys, never mind that history shows it doesn’t work that way.
I have said this before but let me say it again: A back door that Good Guys can use is a back door Bad Guys can use. It’s a back door that can be used to empty your bank account, steal your identity, stalk you, obtain information useful for blackmail and/or extortion, or otherwise make your life miserable.
Oh, and a couple of last words: Secretary Kerry says there were 12 “problematic” people out of 785,000 Syrian refugees, and that sounds like good odds to me (I wonder how many criminals you’d find if you investigated 785,000 random Americans); and I too will stop using variants of ISIS in favor of the more accurate Daesh, for they do indeed sow discord; and some of my online friends have pointed out that the White House didn’t turn into the Bleu, Blanche, et Rouge house? Please note CONGRESS in the picture above and stop making up things to be upset about.
In Closing: it concerns me that the IRS is baffled; I wonder who looks at that information; “great“; scientific weasel words; perfect except for the errors; manufactured outrage.
In Closing: a few words on mass surveillance and encryption; a record warm temperature; antibiotics; an interesting idea (hell, I’d be happy to go back to plain old fashioned metal detectors and no effing Pre-Check); the truth about the Estate Tax and why George W Bush couldn’t find a single widow who lost the family business to pay it to sit in the balcony at the State of the Union Address in 8 years; and some cool places to visit.
One more time, nice and slow, since some people don’t get it.
Never put anything online that you wouldn’t read out loud or show to your mother, your boss, and a judge. And, let me add, that includes video.
In Closing: making us less safe; still true; liberal news media; the Slammer; yoga and more yoga; Summerlin.